Ali Abdi to miss Saint-Étienne second leg after Tunisia trip for World Cup visa | OneFootball

Ali Abdi will miss Nice’s play-off second leg against Saint-Étienne on Friday at 21:00 after travelling to Tunisia for visa formalities without the club’s consent. It is another blow for Nice after Hicham Boudaoui’s absence.

The left-back, 32, had asked to remain with Nice through the end of the season despite strong pressure from head coach Sabri Lamouchi and Tunisia’s federation, which sent him plane tickets on Saturday and Monday that he declined. He featured at Geoffroy-Guichard in the first leg, a 0-0, playing the entire second half.

He flew to Tunisia on Wednesday, Foot Mercato reported, with images also circulating on Tunisian social media. The trip is tied to securing a United States visa ahead of the World Cup, scheduled from 11 June to 19 July with the Aigles de Carthage.

After warning some staff of his imminent departure, he left without official authorisation. RMC Sport reports the club is considering disciplinary action. Abdi wanted to handle the paperwork in person to make the USA in time.

Nice had told him solutions existed to complete the formalities and still be available on Friday. His camp argues that plan would have genuinely endangered his chances of making the World Cup. Claude Puel said he was concentrating on the players available for training rather than those absent.

Source: L'Équipe